UPDATED: Ryan, Aces stave off resilient USI

During Colt Ryan's freshman year at the University of Evansville, the longtime and former Aces men's basketball coach Jim Crews offered him some advice that resonated.

"He said freshman year, everything's a blur," Ryan recounted. "Sophomore year it slows down, junior year it slows down a bit, and senior year it slows down even more."

Ryan's 33-point performance Saturday against the University of Southern Indiana exemplified that, as he scored 19 in the second half of a 73-55 Evansville win in front of 7,358 fans at the Ford Center.

The Aces took the teams' fourth preseason exhibition meeting ever and first since 2008 — a game tabbed the Vectren Community Classic — by the largest margin in series history.

But the final score didn't tell how close it was between the city's Division I and Division II programs.

The Eagles, who trailed by 12 at the half and then 14 on sophomore Ryan Sawvell's tip-in with 19:04 to play, almost came all the way back. They drew to within 43-42 on junior Taylor Wischmeier's dunk with 11:55 to play, bringing the USI fan contingent to its feet.

"It didn't feel like an exhibition game from the beginning," said Evansville coach Marty Simmons. "When you play a program like Southern Indiana, they're a quality program, they're well coached and they've got really good players.

"I've got to give our team a little credit there. They showed some real resilience, because (the Eagles) had definitely turned the momentum their way."

Out of a timeout, the Aces pieced together a 17-3 run — nine of them Ryan's points — and never looked back. Evansville went on to lead by as many as 22 with 2:14 to play, at which point Simmons could finally empty his bench and breathe easy.

Ryan, who added a team-high nine rebounds, five assists and two steals, scored his points a number of ways — one of them a swipe and layup with 10:34 left that sparked the Aces' key run. He didn't miss on three 3-point or eight free throw attempts and finished 11 of 20 from the field.

"Tonight out there I felt like I knew what was coming next and was able to execute," said Ryan, who logged a game-high 35 minutes.

USI threw its best at Ryan — not good enough for the Aces' leading scorer three seasons running.

"There was a really good defender on him — (senior) Kenyon Smith can really guard — he just has a second gear," said USI coach Rodney Watson. "He's multidimensional. He's a fun guy to watch play, because he can do so many things."

Sophomore Jaylon Moore scored 13 points, the only other Evansville player in double figures, and pulled down seven rebounds.

The Aces shot 48 percent from the field while holding the Eagles to 33 percent.

USI carried unknown into the matchup with seven newcomers, five of them transfers from Division I programs and junior colleges. Southern Mississippi transfer Keith DeWitt proved the most influential addition, leading the Eagles with 18 points.

DeWitt also grabbed seven rebounds during his 28 minutes, though he left late during Evansville's run due to foul trouble and never returned to the floor.

"You look at his stats and say, ‘Oh, that's the best he'll play," Watson said. "But you'd like to see his rebounding get better.

"You'd like to see, as we get more cohesive defensively, for a guy with that length to be disruptive in our league.".